How Appealing



Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Programming note: I’ll be waking up very, very early on Wednesday morning to travel to Washington, DC to participate in the “Justice and Journalism” program at the Newseum. Depending on the availability of wireless internet access and program protocol, additional posts may not appear here until Wednesday evening.

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Second Amendment Protects All Americans, Supreme Court Told”: Declan McCullagh has this post today at his “Taking Liberties” blog hosted by CBSNews.com.

Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Report Released On W.Va. Judicial Reform”: Today’s edition of The Wheeling News-Register contains an article that begins, “A committee to reform West Virginia’s courts suggests a pilot program to publically fund one state Supreme Court race in 2012. The Independent Commission on Judicial Review commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin in April released its report Monday on how best to improve the public’s perception of justice in West Virginia’s courts.”

Today’s edition of The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail contains an article headlined “Judicial report takes gradual approach to reform.”

The Associated Press reports that “Panel proposes 2nd appeals court for W.Va.

And The West Virginia Record reports that “Judicial Reform panel submits report.”

You can access the final report of the West Virginia Independent Commission on Judicial Reform at this link.

Posted at 9:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Moyer, others want justice selection changed”: Today’s edition of The Columbus Dispatch contains an article that begins, “Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer has been elected to the Ohio Supreme Court four times. That’s at least two times too many, he figures.”

Posted at 8:54 PM by Howard Bashman



Articles of interest available online at SSRN: Law professor Richard A. Epstein has an article entitled “NRA v. City of Chicago: Does the Second Amendment Bind Frank Easterbrook?” (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

Law professor Amy E. Sloan has an article entitled “The Dog that Didn’t Bark: Stealth Procedures and the Erosion of Stare Decisis in the Federal Courts of Appeals” (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

And Stefanie Lepore has an article entitled “The Development of the Supreme Court Practice of Calling for the Views of the Solicitor General” (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

Posted at 8:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Obama court nominee David Hamilton clears Senate hurdle; A Republican effort to stall an Obama appeals court nominee failed Tuesday; A full Senate vote on Judge David Hamilton is set for Wednesday”: Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana has a news update headlined “Senate agrees to allow vote on Hoosier judicial nominee; Lugar votes to stop GOP filibuster.”

The Birmingham News has an update headlined “Jeff Sessions loses vote, makes his point.”

The Mobile Press-Register has a news update headlined “U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions’ bid to filibuster federal court nominee fails.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Obama Judge Selection Advances as Senate Clears Way for Debate.”

And Politico.com reports that “Senate ends debate over judicial nominee.”

Posted at 8:07 PM by Howard Bashman



“Controversial court nominee survives Senate test”: The Associated Press now has an updated report that begins, “Democrats on Tuesday crushed a Senate filibuster against a controversial appeals court nominee, demonstrating to Republicans they can’t stop President Barack Obama from turning the federal judiciary to the left. The 70-29 vote limited debate over the qualifications of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton of Indiana, and assured his elevation to the Chicago-based appeals court.”

Posted at 5:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Does death for 9/11 plotters offend federalism?” Josh Gerstein has this post at his “Under the Radar” blog at Politico.com.

Posted at 4:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“NY lawyer in terror case ordered to prison”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court has ordered a civil rights lawyer convicted in a terrorism case to begin serving her prison sentence. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Tuesday also upheld Lynne Stewart’s conviction.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States v. Lynne Stewart, et al., at this link. Each of the three judges on the three-judge panel issued an opinion.

Posted at 10:37 AM by Howard Bashman



“Mich. affirmative action ban to be challenged in U.S. court of appeals”: This article appears today in The State News, the student newspaper of Michigan State University.

The Detroit Free Press reports today that “Affirmative action ban to be debated in court.”

The Associated Press reports that “Court to consider Mich. affirmative action ban.”

And in The Detroit News, columnist Laura Berman has an essay entitled “Proposal 2 challenge continues.”

Posted at 10:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judges Calabresi and Easterbrook Face Off on How to Interpret Statutes”: Jeff Jeffrey had this post Saturday at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

And “Josh Blackman’s Blog” provides this coverage, featuring YouTube video clips of the debate.

Posted at 10:07 AM by Howard Bashman



“Black Firefighters Move to Intervene in Ricci v. DeStefano”: Daniel Schwartz has this post today at his “Connecticut Employment Law Blog.”

Posted at 9:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“R.I. judicial selction process needs transparency”: Columnist Edward Fitzpatrick has this op-ed today in The Providence Journal.

Posted at 9:54 AM by Howard Bashman



“Goal of New ABA Website: All the Federal Decisions that Are Fit to Print.” The ABA Journal’s “Law News Now” blog has this post.

Posted at 9:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“DNA evidence useless in Jovin murder case; DNA tainted by lab technician, eliminating crucial lead in decade-old murder case”: This article appeared yesterday in The Yale Daily News.

Posted at 9:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“Cases on Life Terms for Juveniles”: You can view this past Saturday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “America & the Courts” online and on-demand by clicking here.

Notwithstanding the title of this installment, the bulk of the broadcast (beginning at 23:40) consists of a discussion among Pennsylvania-based judges and news media titled “The Third Branch Meets the Fourth Estate.” Additional photographs from that event can be accessed at this link. Coincidentally, I’ll be among the participants at a somewhat similar event scheduled to occur tomorrow at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

Posted at 8:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court urged to end bail hearing ‘cone of silence’; Media argue ban violates free speech, but governments say measure ensures fair trial”: Today’s edition of The Toronto Star contains an article that begins, “Sweeping publication bans at bail hearings put ‘a cone of silence’ around a judicial system that should be open to public scrutiny at the very early stages, lawyers told the country’s top court. In one of the first major challenges to a 1976 criminal code provision, the Toronto Star, Associated Press, CBC and other media outlets urged the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday to strike down the law that makes a ban on information at bail hearings mandatory if requested by the Crown or an accused.”

The Toronto Sun has an article headlined “Taking the publication ban fight to the top court,” which links to this related court filing.

Canwest News Service reports that “News organizations ask top court to allow more bail information.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Canada Supreme Court hears media appeal.”

Posted at 8:12 AM by Howard Bashman



“GOP weighs filibuster of Obama judicial nominee”: This article appears today in The Washington Times.

Today’s edition of The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana reports that “Lugar defies colleague, goes to bat for judge.”

The Indianapolis Star reports that “Lugar defends Obama’s pick of Hoosier for appeals court.”

The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial entitled “Time for a ruling on judge: David F. Hamilton, nominated to the 7th Circuit Court, has been held up by partisan politics; But such delays also interfere with the administration of justice.”

The New York Times contains an editorial entitled “Obama’s Judicial Nominations.”

And The Washington Post contains an editorial entitled “Giving hypocrisy a bad name: Republicans slammed filibusters of Bush judicial nominees; Now they see things differently.”

Posted at 7:48 AM by Howard Bashman